I called in sick to work today. I rarely take sick days but I've had a headache for the past week. I decided that I needed to address the headache and take a day off to make it go away. So far, I think my plan is working!

I slept in, ate a yummy breakfast, knit a bit while watching old sitcoms and then decided to block my jellybean cushion.

Then since my jellybean cushion was blocking, I decided to block my swatches from Madrona.

Which lead to me blocking my swatches for the Central Park Hoodie.

And now it is time for me to return to my place on the couch for knitting and sitcom watching. I'll also be holding the headache at bay.

Meg, Mara and I carpooled down to Tacoma on Friday evening and quickly found Sarah to loop into our fun. We dragged her down to The Rock (Rock Pasta) and had a delicious dinner before returning to our hotel room for knitting! Hurricane Jessica blew by before sprinting off for more fun. That woman was everywhere, doing everything all weekend. I think she had more fun than is humanily possible.

On Saturday morning, everyone else had morning classes so I took the oppotunity to walk around Downtown Tacoma before heading up to the Yarn Market for some shopping time.

I didn't make it very far before I spotted the Blue Moon Booth. And let me tell you those ladies are good! I was only going to buy ONE skein but I loved them all and they convinced me that I should buy them all so I walked out with THREE skeins (I did somehow manage to put one skein back and I already miss it).

I headed out to the lobby where I found Sarah and began knitting with her. A short time later, Ryan and TMK arrived and squeeling was involved when I spotted them. (It's as if I hadn't just seen them oh about four days before!) TMK set up her spinning wheel and I watched her with awe. Her spinning just continues to improve! I'm so impressed!

TMK tried to hide from me but I had the big camera and I wasn't afraid to use it!

In the afternoon, I took an Entrelac class by Fiona Ellis with Mara. We had consumed a bit of beer at lunch and I loudly announced to Mara that I felt a bit DRUNK! I do think it helped me with the Entrelac though.

Mara kindly offered to take my photo with my Enterlac swatch. Somehow I think my one beer was still coursing through my body (or maybe just my eye).

It took a few shoots before we arrived at this giggly, shocked-looking photo. Mara and I were laughing too hard. She kept telling me to stop making funny eye movements.

On Saturday evening, we took a short walk to the Museum of Glass where I snapped a few photos of the nighttime museum. I put them in a short Flickr set here.

I was supposed to attend a Pajama Party in Ryan and TMK's room but I was much too tired and opted instead to go to bed early.

On Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Jessica before heading to my Intarsia class with Sally Melville. She is a wonderful teacher and I wish I had taken her class before I knit the jellybean pillow (the front is done btw and I'm now working on the back.) I almost want to knit another jellybean cushion!

I had the most fun this weekend and even though I'm worn out, I can't wait to do it again next year!

On Friday night, Mot called me so we could giggle about snow in New Mexico and how school had been cancelled due to a threat of snow. She told me that on Friday morning she saw some snow on her way to work but that there wasn't much and it was all north of where she lives.

There wasn’t any snow at Mot’s house but still the schools in her city were closed for the day. Note at this point there wasn't any actual snow on the ground, just the threat of it and that closed the schools. Mot left work early as her co-workers who live near her warned her of the snow conditions. She drove home and kept her eye out for ice and snow. She never saw either and so we laughed about it. I told her to hunker down and pile all her blankets on top of her since it COULD snow. And that it was time to run to the store for chips and toilet paper. We had a good laugh.

Yesterday, Mot called me because it was snowing so much that the highway that she takes to work was closed. She was anxiously checking the DOT cameras for any update and headed out as soon as possible for work. Sadly when she arrived at the highway, she found it still closed. She decided to get her oil changed instead.

I don’t know if she ever made it to work but damn if she didn’t try her hardest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else put so much effort into anything.

All of the pictures in this post are from Mot. She took them on Friday morning and the Pecan Trees are so lovely that I could stare upon them for hours. She just keeps sending me pictures that make me want to visit her immediately! That trip will have to wait though until after my vacation to England.

It was opening day which meant it was crazy busy with people but also alive with energy. Somehow along the way I lost most of the Flickerites but I did keep with my friend Kim who brought along a Polaroid for her picture taking. She had to be much more selective with her picture taking but her results blew me away.

I grabbed my camera and I headed over to Volunteer Park, slipping a bit on the ice along the way. I stepped up to the front of the water tower and snapped a few shots before heading up the stairs.

I climbed and climbed and took a little break to look out the window, halfway up the stairs.

Finally I arrived at the top and noticed a runner directly behind me. I guess some people use this tower as an exercise place!

While at the top, I read about Volunteer Park and how it came to be. Volunteer Park was purchased in 1876 and is located at the top of Capitol Hill in Seattle. In 1903, the Olmstead Brothers helped design what is now called Volunteer Park. The Olmstead Brothers' proposal included an observation tower (which I had just climbed). The water tower was finally building in 1906 and provides panoramic views of downtown, the harbor and the Cascade and Olympic Ranges. There are 106 steps to the observation deck with an elevation of 520 feet.

Volunteer Park is the home to the Seattle Asian Art Museum, a conservatory for exotic plants and its' five supporting greenhouses and cover 43-acres of land.

After all that observation, I headed back down the stairs toward Volunteer Park.

I stepped out onto the snowy road and checked out this plaque.

Before heading home, I decided to check out the traditional views at the park and snapped a few shots.

Seattle has been sucker punched with yet another snow/ice storm! On Wednesday night, the snow started falling and Seattle ground to a halt.

I had taken the bus to work on Wednesday but was really looking forward to going to the gym. That plan was sidetracked when I arrived at the Park and Ride and noticed that my car was covered in about 5 inches of snow. I brushed the snow off, scrapped my windshield and drove two mile home. It was starting to get a bit slick out there so I parked at the house and went in to change into my "soft" clothes.

Thursday morning I awoke to a Winter Wonderland complete with snow and ice. Normally I wouldn't freak out but I was starting a dog sitting gig Thursday night and so the situation was a bit tricker. I decided that I would pack enough for one night and take the bus to work and then take the bus to the dog sitting house. I headed down to the Park and Ride with my Dad but after waiting for 20 minutes we decided to drive in.

It was a lovely drive since the roads were empty and I wasn't the one driving. After work, he picked me up and dropped me off at the dog's house. I took them for a walk in the bitter cold which they seemed to like.

Then I decided to order a Cheese Pizza and some Cinnamon Sticks. They told me the wait was an hour and a half which was fine by me (I called early since I knew it would be forever). However when my pizza arrived, I received two pizzas (one meat lovers and the other hawaiian and cheese sticks. I took them though since I was hungry, it was busy and quite icey (I could hear cars all night trying to make it up the hill).

After scarfing some pizza, I sat down to knit on my sock (the only knitting I had with me)

I watched Ugly Betty and knit along on my sock.

I watch Grey's and knit along on my sock.

Now my goal is for the sock to be finished by the end of the weekend. I think I can do it. I'm already on the foot part!

My other goal is to get my car from my house in Bothell. Yep, it helps to have goals!

I stopped by Sick Meg's house tonight to check on her socks. I found them to be nearly perfect and ideal. I can't wait for our socks to be complete and on our feet. Now I just need to check in on blogless Carrie's progress!

It began simply enough. I wanted to use up the remaining balls of Cotton Chenille I had in my stash. I had purchased another skein on a recent shopping trip with Kayla (She was in town on a quick trip from Paris and we went yarn shopping! I bought too much, had too much fun and am now working to knit from my wonderful purchases).

I decided it was time to knit those flowered washclothes I always planned to knit. The purple and blue one were already done and used a few times but within the last week and a half, I've knit the brown, cream, green and multi-colored one out of pur obession.

The multi-colored one came to be because I had so much yarn left when I completed each washcloth in its respective color. And sadly I still have some of each color left! Drat!

But I'm happy now. I'm almost out of the Cotton Chenille (though I almost fell and bought another skein over the weekend) and I have six wonderful washclothes. I think the obsession is gone.

As 2007 rushes in, it is time to take a moment and review my goals for 2006 (or as I liked to call it 31 in 31) before I announce my latest venture. Last year, I made the list and set to work accomplishing my list of goals! I’m happy to report that I had a 64% success rate with only 11 items not completed (though I do think I should really say 10 items not completed since I did try my hardest to do NaNoMo!).

1. Read 31 books 2. Read Ulysses3. Read the entire Bible4. Knit 14 items for the Dulaan project 5. Knit down stash 6. Start the Master Hand Knitting, Level 1 Program 7. Focus on Photography by participating in Photo Friday 8. Take a photo a day 9. Run the Vancouver 1/2 marathon I'm changing this goal to "Finish The Artist's Way" 10. Do a Tri (Did the Danskin!) 11. Learn the butterfly stroke12. Learn to Dive13. Run 500 miles (approx 9.6 miles a week)14. Do 18,250 crunches (approx. 50 a day) 15. Continue my healthy lifestyle while losing weight16. Find someone special through dating17. Take up a Co-Ed Hobby (kickball!)18. Complete National Novel Writing Month in November by writing a 50,000 word novel19. Once a week, take one small risk20. Continue with my Spanish studies by reading at least one book in Spanish21. Volunteer22. Proactively celebrate other's birthdays23. Knit two socks at once on two circulars24. Do the Polar Bar Swim with Mot on New Year's Day 25. Organize my CD collection 26. FRAME the darn cat poster27. Learn to cook one difficult dish 28. Get an iPod29. Save Money30. Learn how to make proper pie crust 31. Take a trip somewhere, anywhere

Now I’m happy to announce that I’ll be doing 101 in 1001 and you will be able to track my progress here. This is a much longer list with a much longer timeframe and I can’t wait to tackle it! Wish me luck!

Meg, Carrie and I headed over to the Queen Mary Tea Room this weekend. We had quite a few things to celebrate and due to Carrie's new job, we hadn't seen each other in a few weeks.

Shortly after sitting down, I noticed a beautiful woman sitting next to our table (ok in the Queen Mary practically AT our table, it's cozy) and I thought she looked quite familar. So I'm sitting there trying not to stare and luckily she was sitting right behind Carrie so it just looked like I was looking at Carrie, when it hits me. Sarah McLachlan is sitting behind Carrie.

It isn't sinking in though and I start talking to Meg and Carrie about the birds and the squirrels and my fears. I say, "Yes, it is hard for me to run outside what with the birds swoping in to peck out your eyes and the squirrels trying to nibble at your ankles. It's hard being me." Meg and Carrie are laughing at me when I notice so is Sarah McLachlan (her friend was in the bathroom so she was sitting alone so there is a possibility that she was just laughing to herself but that would be crazy so I doubt it!) Yep, I'm that funny!

Sarah McLachlan and her friend left shortly after that and I ask Carrie and Meg if they noticed who we were sitting by. The waitress swopes in and confirms who we were sitting by and Meg and Carrie were upset that they didn't notice her! Meg said she thought the woman was pretty and looked familar.

We then ate a delicious meal with fantastic desserts. Smiles and loud discussion was all around.

Santa even showed up to keep the Chrismas spirit alive for Meg even though I announced that Christmas was dead to me for another year!

Meg took my picture by the bird cage and under the squirrel statue. I look scared.